Nature Positive Pledge: Our commitment to halting and reversing nature loss on campus

Warwick has signed the Nature Positive Pledge – a commitment to start a journey to halt and reverse nature loss, and to actively restore biodiversity and ecosystems affected by our activities. But what will this mean in practice, and how can staff get involved?

We caught up with Charlotte Rashleigh (L) and Katherine Mayfield (R) from the Energy and Sustainability team, to find out.

What is the Nature Positive Pledge?

Katherine: Warwick has signed the Nature Positive Pledge – a commitment to start a journey to halt and reverse nature loss, and to actively restore biodiversity and ecosystems affected by our activities.

Being a Nature Positive University means going beyond reducing harm. It involves enhancing our positive impacts on nature through teaching, research, campus operations, and supply chains. It requires us to measure our baseline impact on biodiversity, set clear targets, take action, and report progress annually.

Captured by Paul Thompson

How is the University taking steps to help boost biodiversity?

Charlotte: We work closely with lots of other people to undertake meaningful steps for nature on our campuses, including:

habitat creation and enhancement projects, working with the Grounds and Gardens Team
monthly litter picks to make campus safer for wildlife, with the Waste and Recycling Team
teaching and research initiatives, working with our academics
species and habitat monitoring with local wildlife groups and enthusiasts.

To enhance our knowledge of species present on campus, we undertake various species and habitat surveys, including moths, riverfly, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and hedgerows. Wildlife sightings are recorded on iNaturalist and we use GIS to map species sightings, as well as habitat creation projects to help us get a clearer picture of biodiversity on campus. This allows us to monitor change and inform future management to increase biodiversity.

Katherine: There are a number of ‘Living Lab’ projects underway, which involve collaborations between academic departments, Estates, and external stakeholders, using the campus as a real-life living laboratory. There are currently projects relating to air quality, soil carbon, aquatic health, and carbon stocks of existing trees. The living labs provide an opportunity to better understand our campus biodiversity and in turn, potentially influence future management.

How can staff and students get involved to help reverse nature loss and restore biodiversity?

Charlotte: There are lots of activities that our community can get involved in on campus.

We run events throughout the year, including species surveys, practical conservation activities (such as coppicing, tree planting and removing invasive species), and litter picking.

We encourage staff, students and the wider community to record wildlife on campus using the iNaturalist app, which identifies the species for you. We are then able to obtain the data for our records and monitor change. Get started with this iNaturalist user guide.

Are there any changes happening soon that our community will notice?

Katherine: ‘No Mow May’ is a great example of how the University is playing its part in restoring biodiversity. For the sixth year running, we will be taking part in Plantlife’s No Mow May movement and leaving areas of grass to grow throughout May, with some areas being left throughout the summer months and only being cut at the end of the season.

This will allow seeds to set and species diversity to flourish in the future, which in turn help a whole host of pollinators and provide shelter for small mammals.

This year we have expanded ‘No Mow May’ to encompass even more land on campus. Find out more.